Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today inaugurated a financial hub in New Town,which the CPM claimed to have already inaugurated during the Left Front regime.

Advertising

Lauding the West Bengal Housing Infrastructure Development Corporation (WBHIDCO) for the initiative to set up the hub,Mamata said the idea was actually a CPM election gimmick.

Before the election,the previous government naam ke vaste announced this project along with a private company. We have a proper vision and focused approach towards making this place a collective package of investment,employment and potentiality, she said.

Mamata added that unlike the previous government,they were not delivering hollow promises. There is a building with 100,000 sq ft floor area in place. So if any company is interested in investing,it can start working immediately, she said,adding that the hub had the potential to make West Bengal the global eye and not only an icon.

The Opposition CPM,however,said the present government was taking credit for what the previous government had started. This was inaugurated by our government and everything was done by us. Mamata is falsely claiming she has done it. The building,which she says was done by her government,has actually been the work of our government, said leader of Opposition Surya Kanta Mishra.

Mishra said Union minister Pranab Mukherjee had been present when the CPM government inaugurated the hub. Even Mamata Banerjee,the then rail minister,was invited but she never showed up, he said.

For phase I of the project,25 acres has been identified,Mamata said at the opening. It will be a cluster of banks and financial service players,which shall allow for economies of scale for carrying out diverse financial activities.

Finance minister Mitra elaborated on the necessity of financial intermediation. Without financial intermediation there can be no farming or industry, he said,adding that the hub would be in line with those in London,Singapore,Dubai and Mumbai.